DRO or Power feed

[wrmiller]

One more question, 2 axis or 3 axis ?

I prefer 3-axis, with the Z-axis scale on the head for a bench/bed mill, or on the knee for a knee-mill. But opinions will vary.

 

[Alan H.]

Tom, I would advise you to spend the extra and get a three axis. I use all three plus an indicator on the quill. Makes the mill very usable.

 

[projectnut]

Here's a response I wrote for someone asking a similar question:

Another vote for the DRO. I've had my current Bridgeport going on 20 years. It came from a high school shop without either the DRO or power feed. I did fine for nearly a dozen years without either. Then came the 2012 presidential campaign. I had a couple large jobs to get done so I spent a lot of overtime hours in the shop. ​

​

It seemed that in the early evening hours all the solicitors thought it was time to ask for votes. I was getting upwards of 50 calls a day from one or another campaign. I wanted to just let the phone ring, but then I might miss a call from a customer or supplier. Several times a day I would stop what I was doing only to hear another line of campaign BS. Several times I forgot to write down the coordinates I stopped the mill at, so I had to retrace my steps. ​

​

I finally gave up and made the decision to buy a DRO. Then it wouldn't matter where I stopped, everything would be saved on the screen. I ended up buying a DRO Pros Electronica EL400 with magnetic scales:​

​

​

http://www.dropros.com/Electronica_...m#Electronica_Magnetic_Scale_2_Axis_Mill_Kits​

:​

​

The best part is that when I was talking to them on the phone they guaranteed that the installation of one of their readouts would end all political calls for a minimum of 90 days starting November 7th. I was hesitant to believe them, but it did work. I didn't get another political call for another year. It even had residual value in that I didn't get more than a handful of calls during the 2016 election campaign. Best money I ever spent.​

​

As for the power feed, I still haven't invested in one. It's on the list, but the priority has fallen down somewhat. Now it's a "nice to have" but not mandatory accessory.​

Note the DRO is a 2 scale model for the X and Y travel only. At work we only had readouts for these axis so I quickly got used to it. Any critical depth holes or slots can be accomplished by zeroing the cutter height and raising the table.

 

[Techee]

DRO.....self taught hobbyist here. 24 years ago I started w/ a basic Smithy.....no DRO

2 years ago I bought a new Rong FU mill/drill & last year a Grizzley SouthBend lathe.

I installed 3 readouts on the mill & 2 on the lathe. I bought 5 low cost Igage battery operated units off Ebay. 3 different lengths, I the used a hacksaw & cut them to the appropriate lengths.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-Re...107663?hash=item21113ca44f:g:ucUAAOSwzJ5XVi4o

They are fairly accurate & have all the advantages mentioned above at a reasonable cost. One caveat...I tend to forget to turn theme off & I have used up a set of batteries on three of them.

For a hobbyist...they have let me step up my game immensely!

You will not be disappointed no matter what quality/price range you choose!

 

[barnett]

Thanks for the input !

Tom

 

[Silverbullet]

YUPP dro , later you can build a suitable power feed under $100 . Windshield wipers motors , power wheelchair motors even better . A few switches and power supply . Get the three line dro .

 

[Buffalo20]

just to be contrary, I’d go power feed. On what I do, the power feed is mandatory, after 4 shoulder surgeries, powerfeeds on theX, Y and Z axis is more important to me, than a dro.

 

[BGHansen]

I'd go with 3-axis (X, Y and the knee) and a digital scale on the quill. I've got that set up on my Jet JVM-830 and love it. Have 3-axis on my Bridgeport and bought a quill scale from Shars that'll go on once the outside temp in Michigan gets north of 10 deg. (-3 F this morning). I've got a heater in my shop, but it only raises the temp by about 40 degrees. I can wait a bit for the weather to get at least into the 20's.

Bruce

 

[barnett]

Never even thought about a power wheelchair motor, might look into that. I thought most of them were 24volt

 

[middle.road]

Well crud! I passed on two 'used' scooters at an estate sale this past season. It was at the end on Sunday and the gent that was running the sale offered them up for $25. I didn't think about the motors.
Of course there is the counter-point of having to explain to my Better-Half. Already have the parts of (2) treadmills up in the attic...